Set-jetting – plotting a holiday around your favourite TV show or film – is a slice of the tourism industry that it’s estimated will be worth a princely £100billion by 2035.
New research released this week from travel insurance comparison site InsureMyTrip ranks the best countries for seeking out cinematic locations, looking at factors including filming volume, cultural influence, affordability and safety.
And unsurprisingly, the US tops the list as the world’s best place for discovering real-life film location destinations, with 2,763 places listed across the country – including everything from Stranger Things’ sets in Atlanta to where the The Wolf of Wall Street came to life in the Big Apple.
However, the UK is now snapping at the heels of America when it comes to attracting set-jetting tourists, with locations used in hits such as The Crown, Fleabag, and the Harry Potter films amongst the most popular places to visit.
US show Ted Lasso has seen tourism footfall in Richmond, on the banks of the Thames in South West London, surge by 160 per cent since the show first aired in 2020.
Film and TV tourism in the UK is increasingly important, with an estimated £892m contributed annually to the economy.
Eleven, played by Millie Bobby Brown, looking over Haifoss waterfall in Iceland in Stranger Things season five
Other countries cited in the study as having impressive set-jetting credentials included Canada, Germany, Spain, Japan, Austria, New Zealand, South Korea, Italy and Norway.
Sara Boisvert, Director of Marketing at InsureMyTrip commented: ‘Set-jetting is changing the way people choose their vacations. We created this study to help travelers explore these destinations more confidently, while being mindful of safety, costs, and the communities they’re visiting.’
On the flipside, fears of overtourism has also been sparked in some filming locations, with local residents living close to Scotland’s Glenfinnan Viaduct, which appeared in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, overwhelmed by the half a million visitors the scenic bridge now gets.
Fans of US hit series Stranger Things, which ended with a two-hour finale released on New Year’s Day, can visit filming spots from the cult series in real life – with visitors to the town of Jackson in Georgia, which doubled up as Hawkins, up 12 per cent since the show first aired in 2016.
Radio station WSQK 94.5FM, known as The Squawk, features in season five and was built in the Chattahoochee Hills, Travel + Leisure reports. The rural city is located in Fulton County, Georgia and has plenty of walking trails to explore.
And Iceland’s Haifoss waterfall, which features in iconic Stranger Things scenes, has seen a huge surge in Google searches from interested travellers, according to research by Tripadvisor company Bókun.
The terms ‘stranger things waterfalls,’ ‘Haifoss twin waterfalls,’ and ‘Best time of the year to visit Iceland’ all experienced a 5,000 per cent search increase in the past month.
Fans of Ted Lasso have been flocking to Richmond in recent weeks as filming of the fourth season of the Apple TV+ show continues in the South West London town.
Paved Court, a tiny street in the pretty south-west London town of Richmond, has been transformed since Apple TV+ show Ted Lasso began using it as a key filming location (Pictured: Brendan Hunt, left, Jason Sudeikis, right)
The two-storey Ted Lasso store on Paved Court attracts thousands of TV fans who make a pilgrimage to Richmond to spy the show’s locations since it first aired in 2020
Despite the show’s creators, including Jason Sudeikis, who plays the sports-comedy drama’s title role, claiming the third season would be its last, a new series is, much to the delight of fans, incoming later this year.
The series’ major stars and the film crews have been spotted capturing scenes on and around Richmond Green, close to the narrow alleyway of Paved Court, where US football coach Ted’s flat is situated in the show.
In historic Paved Court, the nods to the soccer coach protagonist can be seen everywhere.
There’s a colourful two-storey merchandise store now in place, selling replica AFC Richmond shirts and even £9.50 boxes of the shortbread Lasso makes in the show for club owner Rebecca Welton (Waddingham).
On the same stretch, many of the stores, which includes an Italian sandwich shop, hairdressers and jewellers, have also put up photos of the show or display Ted Lasso themed items in their windows.
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